Apparatus for determining the direction of space-telegraph signals.



J. 8. STONE. mm'rus ron nn'rnmnnmu Tm: bmno'non or anon TELEGRAPH smmna.

APPLIOA'I'IOI HLBD AUG. 17. 1906.

899,272. Patented Sept. 22,1908.

J. S. STONE. APPARATUS ron nn'rmmmmu THE DIRECTION 0! sun TELEGRAPH SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.17, 1908.

Patented Sept. 22, 1908. aa'ms'n-snnn'r a.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN STONE STONE, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM W. SWAN, TRUSTEE, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 22, 1908.

Application filed August 17, 1906. Serial No. 330,964.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN STONE STONE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cambrid e, in the county of Middlescx and State of assachusetts, have invented a new and useful lm'irovcment in Apparatus for Determining the Direction of pace-Telegraph Signals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of signaling electricall between stations not connected by a con uctin wire.

The ob'ect 0 m invention is to provide a s stem w ereby the bearing or direction of t e transmitting system from the receiving s stem may be determined by observing at t e receiving system the direction of motion of the electromagnetic waves which emanate from the transmitting system.

The present invention is a development and extension of that described in my U. S. Letters Patent No. 716,135, dated Dec. 16, 1902, to which reference may be had for a more com lete explanation of the principles involved t an need be set forth herein.

The drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification illustrate in diagram several embodiments of my invention,

although it will be understood that many modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without-departing from the principles of my invention.

I In the drawings Figure 1 represents a space telegraph receiving system constructed in accordance with the present invention. F' 2 is a modification of the s stem shown in ig. 1. Fi 3 shows a furt er modification in whicht e receiver circuit need not be symmetrically placed with res ect to the elevated conductors. Fi 4 s ows another modification in which t e response of the os-.

cillation detector may be varied in accordance 'with the amplitude .of the received Waves. F' .5 re resents-still another modification. 6 s ows a means for preventing'the receiving system from respondin to extraneous -electrical forces not intende to be received.

K is an oscillation detector.

] L is an inductance, and D is an artificial The elevated conductors V, V are connected at their lower ends by the conductor which includes means for associating the oscillation detector therewith and which in the present instance is shown as the primary of the transformer M. The circuit which in cludes the secondary of said transformer preferably is arranged so that it may be attuned to the frequency of the waves the energy of which is to be received, as for example by varying the capacity of the condenser C. The oscillation detector K may be of any suitable type and may be associated with the receiving circuit in any suitable manner, being shown in the present instance as included in series therewith.

The system of elevated conductors in all cases may be so constructed, as by mounting the same on asuitable support, as to be caable of rotation about a vertical axis. hen used on ship board one of the elevated conductors will be connected to a support on the forward part of the ship and the other to a support on the after part thereof, and in this case in the operation of determining the bearing of the transmittin station the plane of the conductors will be s ifted by swinging the ship. When the plane of said conductors is normal to the direction of motion of the transmitted waves, the effect of the oscillations created by said waves in the system of elevated conductors will be ml and accord-. ingly by appropriately swinging the shi the operator may determine by means of the sounds in the usual receiving telephone associated with the oscillation detector K, the direction of motion of the received waves. In all the figures, the s stem of elevated conductors is ungrounde and when the plane of said conductors is normal'tothe direction" of motion of the transmitted waves, the po-.

tential of the system as a whole is elevated and depressed without producing a difference of potential between the terminals of the transformer primary, and therefore withoutcreating currents in the transformer second- It is not a ways convenient, however, that the operatorand his a paratus should be lo cated in the middle 0 the shi and accordingly in Fi s. 2 and 3 I have s own systems in which t e receiving operator may be located in a more convenient position in accordance with the construction and arrangement of the ship upon which the apparatus is to be used.

InFig. 2 the receiving conductors extend downwardly and their upper ends are connected by the conductor which includes the means for associatin the oscillation detector therewith and which in the present case is shown as the primary of the transformer M. H represents a pair of twisted conductors connectin the oscillation detector K with the telep one T. and source of electrical energy B, ifthe receiver is of such character as to require such source. By twisting the conductors H as shown, direct induction effects by received waves or other electrical forces are obviated. By this construct-ion it will-be obvious that the receiving operator may locate himself in any convenient portion of the ship.

In Fig. 3 the means for associating the oscillation detector'with the system of elevated conductors is not symmetrically placed with respect to said conductors, but divides the conductora d into two equal parts ab and 0d.

To-re'nder these parts electrical equivalents I include in one of said unequal parts of the conductor a d, herein shown as the shorter part ab, an artificial line so constructedhs to ring the center of oscillation of the system as a whole approximatel midway between the points b and c. It wiv be obvious by this arrangemen-t that the transformer M may be placed anywhere between the points a and d and that therefore the receiving circuit may be located at any desired portion of the ship. Asis well understood, the amplitude-of the sounds produced in the receivin telephone associated with the oscillation etector-depends, other things beingequal, upon the,

am litude of the waves received. Inasmuch as the success of the method herein disclosed of determining the bearing of a ship with respect to a transmitti systemdepends greatly upon the skill of t e operator and the nicety of the adjustments of the apparatus, and inasmuch as the varying amp itudes of the sounds produced in the telephone waves which differ in energ' render such justments more difficult,

v rovide means foradjusting the res on'sev o the detector,

. and conse uentl-y the oudness of the sounds produced y the telephone, with respect to the amplitude of therec'eived waves, so that said sounds may be maintained at about uniform strength. Anadditional and valuable function of said means for adjusting the response of the detector is that byits use in the hands-of a skilled operator in the habit of reeiving signals from given shore stations, in-

' the two formation of the approximate distance of the ship from a shore station, as well as the bearinglof station, may be ascertained. In Fig. 4 t e mutual inductance between the circuit which includes the oscillation detector and therest of the system is made adjustable as by varying the separation or spatial relation 0 the windings of the transformer M. An adjustable shunt F may be connected across the terminals of the detector K. By both of these means the receiving operator may, other thin s being equal, maintain the sounds roduced by the telephone at practically uniorm intensity or otherwise control them. It will be obvious that either one of these means ma be employed se ,arately, and as shown in ig. 5 the mutua inductance between the wmdings of the transformer M is maintained constant and the sounds in the telephone are controlled solely by the adjustable resistance F. Y

The systems herein disclosed are liable to be disarranged b. atmospheric electricity or abrupt or impu sive electrical forces. Accordlngly I'may connect across the terminals of the primary I a circuit including the in ductance L and condenser C which-are so adjusted that said circuit has a natural rate of vibration e ual to the fundamental rate of vibration of t e conductors V0 and V o considered as connected in series. Under these conditions the most pronounced natural rate of vibration of the system as a whole will be equal to that of its component parts V0 and V 0, considered as'connected in series, and '0 C L o Abrupt orimpulsive forces therefore will develop in the. system oscillations having said rate of vibration and inasmuch as the circuit'o C L 0 has zero react-ance and practically zero im edance for said oscillations, the latter will e conducted around the primary I, and will not affect the receiver, as heretofore more fully disclosed by me. It will be. understood of course that the protecting circuit 0 C 'L 0 may be employed in connection with any of the systems escribed herein.

1. A system ofspace telegraphy comprising a system of ungrounde e evatedconductors capable of receiving the ener of electromagnetic waves and also *ca ab e of.

having its position changed relative y to the. direction of motion of the electromagnetic waves, a conductor connecting said elevated conductors, means connected with said con ductor and dividing the same into twounequal parts, an. oscillation detector associated with said means, means for rendering. parts of. said'conductor electrically equivalent, and means whereby said oscillationdetector may indicate a signal only when said system of electrical conductors has a predetermined position relative to the direc-v tion of motion of said electromagnetic waves.

- associating an oscillation detector therewith,

and means for renderin the twoparts of said conductor electrically equivalent.

4. A system of space telegraphy comprising ungrounded elevated receiving conductors, a conductor connectin said receiving conductors, means connecte with said conductor and dividing the same into two unequal parts for associating an oscillation detector therewith, and an artificial line in one of said parts.

5. Ansystem of space telegraphy compris-,

ing ungrounded elevated receiving conductors, a conductor connectm said receiving conductors, means connected qual parts for associating an oscillation detector therewith, and meansfor rendering the two parts of said conductor electrically equivent.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 14th day of'Augu'st 1906.

JOHN STONE STONE.

Witnesses:

C, STEWART FORBES, GEO. K. WoonwoR'rH.

with said conductor and dividing the same into two une 

